Vmax vs. Vrod

I wanted to ask you guys a quick question. Today on my way home from work I had a run in with a guy on a 2008 Vrod. We ended up racing, but it wasn't an off the line drag race.

I had passed the guy heading down the freeway and exited ahead of him. He followed me and pulled up next to me at a stoplight. We talked for a few minutes, he complimented me on my bike, I complimented his. The light turns green and I take off. We get to the next red light and I'm in front. The light turns green and I take off like I would any other day. Not too fast, just minding my own business commuting home from work type of pace. All of a sudden I hear this guy get on it hard. So I figured I would give it a shot. We didn't run very far because the road started to curve but by the time we shut down I was doing about 90 mph and he was about two bike lengths ahead of me.

I'm wondering how much power the 2008 Vrod makes. How fast is it compared to a stock 2004 Vmax. I'm also wondering how much of a factor rider weight plays. I'm sure I am at least 120 lbs heavier than this guy was. Am I right in thinking that I got beat by this guy because he got the drop on me and was already accelerating hard by the time I decided to race him or does his bike just make more power than mine? Or is it simply a matter of getting rid of the old spare tire?

Maybe someone that actually knows WTF they're talking about will come along and correct me, but I've carried around the belief that in stock form, the Max will win in stoplight battles with the VRod.

Now, perhaps they did something in '08 that changed that, but I kinda doubt it.

If he beat you, I suspect it's because of his head start and/or the extra weight you might be carrying.

I do suspect a number of folks around here have raced against them, and can share first-hand experience.

Dont take this wrong way, but either you are a Big Guy 300+lbs, not a good rider, or your VMAX is not tuned properly.
I was at the dragstrip in the spring and raced a guy with a new 08 Vrod with a power commander and exhaust on his. They are weak! He could only pull 87MPH in the 1/8 compared to my 100-101. They are heavy and cant launch as hard and they dont have the roll on power like the VMAX.
If your getting passed by a VROD on a VMAX you have problems!!

No offense taken. I do fall in to the category of big guy, weighing in at about 305 lbs. I also wasn't expecting the race and I'm sure I probably would have done a bit better if I'd been in a lower gear. The thing was that I wasn't looking for a race at the time. I'm not a pro drag racer by any stretch of the imagination and I can't say that the tuning on my Vmax is perfect either. I don't however think that it is out of tune. I get good gas mileage, the bike starts without any problems, when I get on it hard the oil light comes on and lets me know that I'm breaking a few traffic laws. The engine only has about 7,000 miles on it.

If it is just a matter of being a fat guy, I can accept that. If it is combination of me bing a big guy and the fact he simply got the drop on me and I wasn't in the right gear for a race I can deal with that too. I was on my way home from a long night at work and when he decided to go I would guess that I was moving about 20 mph in second gear. I wasn't really pushing the bike hard. I'm just trying to get a feel for how the Vmax should perform vs a Vrod. I'm not sure how big a factor rider skill would play in this situation because there wasn't any launching involved. I would think that as long as I'm in the right gear to get the most out of the engine and I can twist the throttle I should do okay.

NM_MAX said:

No offense taken. I do fall in to the category of big guy, weighing in at about 305 lbs. I also wasn't expecting the race and I'm sure I probably would have done a bit better if I'd been in a lower gear. The thing was that I wasn't looking for a race at the time. I'm not a pro drag racer by any stretch of the imagination and I can't say that the tuning on my Vmax is perfect either. I don't however think that it is out of tune. I get good gas mileage, the bike starts without any problems, when I get on it hard the oil light comes on and lets me know that I'm breaking a few traffic laws. The engine only has about 7,000 miles on it.

If it is just a matter of being a fat guy, I can accept that. If it is combination of me bing a big guy and the fact he simply got the drop on me and I wasn't in the right gear for a race I can deal with that too. I was on my way home from a long night at work and when he decided to go I would guess that I was moving about 20 mph in second gear. I wasn't really pushing the bike hard. I'm just trying to get a feel for how the Vmax should perform vs a Vrod. I'm not sure how big a factor rider skill would play in this situation because there wasn't any launching involved. I would think that as long as I'm in the right gear to get the most out of the engine and I can twist the throttle I should do okay.

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Yupp thats it, 305lbs. going 20mph in 2nd gear which I am sure that VMAX was choking. I would have dropped it into 1st leaned forward WOT as I was slinging the clutch out causing the back tire to go up in smoke as I passed that POS Harley and banged second letting out of it around 75 with a look of "That was no race"

The 06 and newer V-Rod's put out 125 horse, around 105-110 to the tire via the belt drive. Comparible to the V-Max, but I think they weigh in around 50+ lbs more than the Max.

Got me another VRod stamp on the airbox cover last week. Of course with my Max it isnt even fair LOL. Dude on a Night Rod wanted to show me what its was made of. After giving him a shrinking look at the rear of my bike I did stop just to say hi. Guy was very cool and showed the proper respect for Mr. Max LOL.

Giving up the jump is huge, depending on how long he was on it before you hit yours. The question is was he still pulling away from you at 90? If you were catching him then from a even jump you would have been pulling away from him.

That is a hard question to answer. By the time we hit 90 I had shut down. The road we were on curves and if I had kept going the way I was my ass would have landed somewhere on the side of the road and my Vmax would have been riding me. :biglaugh:

Let that be a lesson to you MN Max. Always expect the low underhanded tatics of a Hardley rider. I would have been watching my mirrors the whole time after dusting him the first time. PS, I am a big guy too and the weight can actually help on a dead start but kills you on roll on acceleration. Yes you gotta be winding the V-4 up a little to get into that power band. Sounds like you used common sense and knowing your limits with the upcoming bend in the roadway. Think about a SASY or T-Boost too.

Don't think for a second that the 1250 vrods are shitty running bikes. They're capable of 7.20's out of the box all day long, and on the other end is where they run the best. My guess would be that he had his rpms up where his bike starts running and then showered down on it knowing that he would be able to come around you before you had a chance to react. Next time, get him from the stop light so that he doesn't have a shot at doing that. Don't sweat it, It happens to everyone at least once. You could have been like the guy that i saw this morning, but i'm about to post that one in a different topic lol.

when a bike of equil power gets a jump ... even if the max is quicker or faster...its hard to over come..pluss with your weight your giving up 10 hp or more to the other rider who was probably less then 200 pounds

If anyone here cant outrun a V-ROD you either need to do one of the folowing.

1) Practice riding more and learn shift points.
2) Get a tune up or maybe a complete leak down check / compression check.
3) Make sure your buddy hasnt pulled off a spark plug wire.
4) As SS would do, check your tire PSI :ummm:
If none of those ideas work and you stil find yourself not pulling away from a V-Rodder REMOVE THE VMAX emblems off your bike.

7.20's on a VROD:rofl_200: Yeah ok!! LMAO a stock VROD runs 7.80's+ with a good rider. 7.20's on a VROD :rofl_200: LMAO what a joke!!

What do you think that a stock m109R runs? My gradpa's fucking stratoliner runs 7.70's.

theres a 109 that comes down where i hang out he says he owned a max before and the 109 is quicker faster...i dont believe it...been trying to meet up with this guy to hit the highway

lankeeyankee said:

If anyone here cant outrun a V-ROD you either need to do one of the folowing.

1) Practice riding more and learn shift points.
2) Get a tune up or maybe a complete leak down check / compression check.
3) Make sure your buddy hasnt pulled off a spark plug wire.
4) As SS would do, check your tire PSI :ummm:
If none of those ideas work and you stil find yourself not pulling away from a V-Rodder REMOVE THE VMAX emblems off your bike.

7.20's on a VROD:rofl_200: Yeah ok!! LMAO a stock VROD runs 7.80's+ with a good rider. 7.20's on a VROD :rofl_200: LMAO what a joke!!

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lankee theres over 100 lbs difference in rider weight...like racing with a hot chick on the back.....the max does seem to be a freak the way it performs with the little hp it puts out.......im thinking the tranny is set up just right to make the best out of what it has

Bawls said:

What do you think that a stock m109R runs? My gradpa's fucking stratoliner runs 7.70's.

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I see your 22 yrs old, so I am not even going to argue with a kid about a v rod running 7.20's or the M109 is faster than a VMAX (stock)

Read up before you talk shit about something you are very unexpiernced with..

Bawls said:

What do you think that a stock m109R runs? My gradpa's fucking stratoliner runs 7.70's.

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my buddy had a 113 stratoliner there nice bikes...to muck power for you...hes old to they know how to handlle the power

:Smoking:I think someone is smoking aint I dont mean ciggarettes:ummm:

lankeeyankee said:

I see your 22 yrs old, so I am not even going to argue with a kid about a v rod running 7.20's or the M109 is faster than a VMAX (stock)

Read up before you talk shit about something you are very unexpiernced with..

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I second that unk:unk:unk: